2013 › February

Online Travel

Study finds online booking giants aren’t satisfying travelers like they used to

Consumers have more options than ever before from fresh-faced startups to familiar search engines so despite OTAs’ legacy in the industry, they’ll have to keep innovating to keep up with the competition.

Skift | 11 years ago

Tourism

Deadly hot air balloon crash expected to further hamper Egypt’s tourism efforts

The crash should have a larger impact on hot air balloon operators than Egyptian tourism, but tourists’ already grim perception of the country is further validated by media’s heavy reporting on events like this.

Haggag Salama, Associated Press | 11 years ago

Tourism

Smokers have one less paradise as Russia pushes more smoking bans

It will not be long before we see the emergence of "cigarette-cations" or "tobacco-days" being pushed by destinations trying to lure in the persecuted smokers the world over. But better get PR campaign in place while they can still breathe.

Luke Harding and Miriam Elder, The Guardian | 11 years ago

Airlines

Heathrow trials biometric self-boarding with South African Airways

This is Heathrow, everything looks great in the beginning. Remember the disastrous Iris scanners at customs? When Heathrow actually starts using it in full, and everyone's happy, then we will believe it.

Skift | 11 years ago

Hotels

Hotels pry into guests’ online lives to add a personal touch to their stay

Creepy or awesome? For every guest that feels the chills when a hotel’s gesture gets a little too personal, remember that they’re the ones freely offering up personal information on the web.

Skift | 11 years ago

Tourism

New York City tourism officials go global to pitch outer boroughs’ benefits

The city's enthusiasm for the boroughs coincides with multiple hotel openings in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as the emergence of non-corporate attractions that help distinguish the neighborhoods from the chain-store monotony that defines much of Manhattan.

Skift | 11 years ago

Hotels

Dubai needs more conference space to keep up with hotel room boom

Many U.S. cities build conference spaces in what become failed bids to lure events, but Dubai has the rooms, the air connections, and the mojo once again that building more space makes sense.

AllArabianBusiness.com Staff, HotelierMiddleEast.com | 11 years ago

Airlines

Sequestration cuts will hit New York City airports harder than others

The congressional response to Hurricane Sandy demonstrated that congress couldn't give a rip about New York City, so to gain support proponents of compromise will need to focus on the hundreds of small cuts to airports around the country.

Alan Levin, Bloomberg | 11 years ago

Ground Transport

Special Report: Investors boycott tours and activities as peer-to-peer shakeout looms

The early adopters in tours and activities could be too early, and to paraphrase a baseball scholar: It is going to get late early for a lot of the startups.

Dennis Schaal, Skift | 11 years ago

Online Travel

SkiftSeedlings: Four travel startups that sprouted on four different platforms

Samantha Shankman, Skift | 11 years ago